Feathering Your Nest

While working on the border flowers for the Blossom of Friendship quilt the other evening at the cabin, I decided to turn on TV. We have basic cable and summer reruns were the only bill of fare available. I knew I’d been in the woods way too long when I found myself watching The Natural History of the Chicken. (I guess as opposed to the Un-Natural History of the Chicken?) If that’s not bad enough, I watched Ferrets: The Pursuit of Excellence. It wasn’t what I call riveting television, but the History of the Chicken was actually quite interesting. Did you know that a hen will pull out her own feathers to line the nest to make her chicks more comfortable?

So let me digress quickly. I keep a little journal of blogging ideas. Of course I scribbled down the names of the two shows on PBS…..I could never make that up! My journal also contained the words; bird nest, graduation, weddings and Relay for Life. Now how is she going to tie this altogether you ask?

A family of sparrows set up housekeeping in my wreath on the front door of the Livermore house and to our delight; we had four little blue eggs before we knew it. We guarded the four little eggs as vigilantly as the mother. We didn’t let the mailman deliver mail through the slot in the door. He put the mail in an In Between Stitches bag on the gate. We didn’t use our front door…we came and went through the garage. The four little eggs hatched on Mother’s Day and then the hatchlings flew the coop shortly after that. Now we have FIVE little blue eggs in the nest. I think this set will be born on Father’s Day.

At the cabin, also by our front door, we have a nest of Stellar Blue Jays. We’ve heard little chirps, so we know there are little ones in there, but we can’t see how many.

Just as the birds from the four little eggs left the safety of that nest, this is the time of year when graduating seniors are leaving the safety of high school and heading to college. College graduates are leaving their old stomping grounds for the work force. And yes, even my little twin granddaughter’s are leaving the safety of Kindergarten for 1st grade. How do we make this transition easier? We make quilts to “feather the nest.” We make T-shirt quilts to remind the recipients of their past accomplishments. We make quilts to adorn a new dorm room or apartment. We make quilts for the bride and groom and their new home. We make quilts for donation to Relay for Life. We make quilts for our friends and family to take with them to chemotherapy. We make quilts to be a constant reminder that we are wrapping our loved ones in our affection. We make quilts as a reminder of what is important in life. Home, Love, Friends and Family.

I always ask customers if the quilt they are making is for them. Nine times out of ten the answer is, “No, I’m giving it away.” What a wonderful, caring, group of people you are.

Here’s to you and “feathering your nest.”

As always,
Lynn